Bacteriological Profiles and Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns in Complicated Bacterial Infections of the Ears, Nose and Throat

The objective of this study was to identify and map bacteriological profiles and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of complicated bacterial infections in the otorhinolaryngological (ENT) spectrum. Antibiotic resistance was another goal of our study. We defined complicated bacterial infections as: acute bacterial pathology of the ears, nose and throat with complications that required immediate surgical approach, chronic diseases of the ears, nose and throat that required surgical treatment due to ongoing bacterial infections, middle ear cholesteatoma with complications, complicated suppurated tonsillitis in children, intratonsillar abscess, parapharyngeal space abscess, cellulitis of the neck, face and/or involving cervical ganglia and neoplasms of the pharynx or larynx with an acute ongoing bacterial superinfection. The study was carried out over a period of 12 months, on a total number of 82 patients (children and adults), admitted in our department for the complicated bacterial diseases listed above. For the ENT spectrum, we uncovered that more than 50% of complicated bacterial infections were caused by 4 pathogens: Pseudomonas species, Staphylococcus aureus non-MRSA and MRSA species and Streptococcus species (other than Beta-haemolytic Group A Streptococci and Streptococcus pneumoniae). Almost two thirds of all complicated bacterial infections are complicated cases of sinusitis or mastoiditis that require immediate surgical treatment due to possible life-threatening complications. Keywords: complicated bacterial infection, bacteriological profiles, antibiotic resistance, bacterial culture, bacterial antibiotic susceptibility